Frequent bowel movements (>10 daily)

[Anonymous]

My little boy is 5 weeks old and on 7.5mg of Prevacid twice daily. He has always had way more than the “normal” bumber of bowel movements, including meconium the first two days of life (at least 10-15!). They are not improving, and in fact have now led to severe diaper burn, but only right around his anus (sorry, trying to be medical). He has more than 10 BMs a day, a lot of the time accompanying gas and not full BMs. The texture varies from watery (way more watery than normal nursing BMs) to paste-like.

I am curious to know if this is a sign of further reflux or something more. He screams and screams and screams periodically throughout the day. This is my third baby, and every person that has heard him during these periods agrees it is not “normal” or “colic” – he is in severe pain without question. He has been on the Prevacid at this dose for a week, and I have been milk/soy-free for 5 days (obviously I’m nursing). Of course I know this all takes time, but he does not show any remarked improvement, and with the diaper burn, it’s actually somewhat worse than where we started.

We saw a Pedi GI last Thursday, and I am inclined to demand to be seen again immediately. It is heart-wrenching to see my son scream in pain without any ability to comfort him.

I should add that the Pedi GI also added Carafate to the regimen just for a total of two weeks with the assumption that my little one is MSPI. At this point I am not convinced that is the issue since we are still having the same screaming episodes and bowel issues. Today my husband decided we are saving 24 hours worth of diapers to show the doctor.

Any help anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated. I am curious to know if anyone has had the same presentation of bowel issues and if it was reflux, MSPI, or something else. At this point I feel like we’re all alone trying to be the detectives figuring out how to help our son.

Sorry this is all over the place…I need help!!

Thank you in advance for your time and help!

[Anonymous]

This sounds like my little guy exactly. The diapers you describe started around 3 wks old for him. This sounds (to me) exactly like MSPI/MFPI… but could certainly be reflux in addition.

You are doing the right thing to be milk/soy-free. Make sure you are eliminating all hidden dairy/soy as well!!! Also, it can take up to 4wks+ for his little colon/intestines to heal & for the stools to regulate/baseline. (it actually took 5.5 wks for Evan’s to regulate…it actually got worse before it got better as well).

You might want to consider a more limited diet such as TED (total elimination diet) if you don’t see some improvement in his comfort in the next few days. Eventhough Evan’s diapers didn’t regulate for 5+ wks he was noticably more comfy (not great, but better) within a week or so… but he was also on a higher dose of Prevacid.

Along those same lines, I would look @ http://www.marci-kids.com to compare the experts recommended dose w/ your ds’s dose. It sounds like it could be low.

Hang in there!!! I have completely been in your shoes! erinntx2009-09-29 23:17:36

[Anonymous]

what form of prevacid? I know he is young, but are they willing to do any testing yet? Possibly endoscopy to see if there is something else they can pinpoint…. When you say that you are eliminating, is it all hidden dairy/soy? we did not successfully breastfeed, so there are other mamas here that can help more in that department. Sounds like he is in a lot of pain, so I, too, would suggest getting back in quickly to see the doctor. Do you like the GI and feel he is listening to you? There are some here who had to switch to get good results, but if you like him, I would stick it out a bit.

I know it does take a bit of time to figure some of this out, and the prevacid can take a couple of weeks to make things better. Also, I just looked back and it may take a bit longer than the 5 days to make sure that all the old offenders are out of his little system.

Hang in there! YOu have found an amazing forum of information and support!!

[Anonymous]

Erin and I were posting the same time! 🙂

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much for your replies – at least I know I’m not crazy for thinking it’s not “just colic”.

To answer your questions about hidden milk/soy – yes, they are ALL gone from my diet. Fortunately the Pedi GI has a Nutritionist on staff as well, so I met with her after the Pedi GI appt. Thank you for telling me it might take weeks on end to notice the bowels changing – his bowel symptoms were actually why the Pedi GI suspected MSPI. Unfortunately I’m worried that TED is probably going to be warranted. Though I do have to say he appeared to be experiencing some relief over the last day or two until the severe diaper burn appeared this afternoon. I jumped on that and was able to get a Rx this evening to hopefully stop it from getting any worse and allow it to heal – ladies, it’s really bad; worse than anything I’ve ever seen. 🙁

The MARCI website is GREAT! I’ve already told my husband we are NOT on the highest dose of Prevacid and printed out the information to take to our next appointment (not made, but it will be made in the morning).

Thank you a hundred times over for your knowledge and wisdom – I am so thankful to have found this forum!!

P.S. No, the Pedi GI really does not like to do any testing until at least 3 months because he is of the belief that most will outgrow the intolerances/reflux, etc. It’s just hard to imagine our little guy struggling that much longer. Oh, and he did send us home with ElaCare, a Rx lipid formula, but our little guy wants nothing to do with a bottle. We spent a small fortune trying every brand and type out there. LOL! I told my hubby it’s God’s little way of telling me to fight through this because I really wanted to nurse for a year. 🙂

bhch092009-09-29 23:37:48

[Anonymous]

you know, putting the pain and rash issues aside—i don’t know that having that many bowel movements in a baby only 5 weeks old is necessarily out of the ordinary. it seems like my oldest would poop every time i nursed him in the early weeks. it’s been a long time, so maybe i’m not remembering well. but, he definitely should not be having such a sore rash, or any rash for that matter unless there is a problem—and he shouldn’t be in pain. i can’t believe we got one of the most important things sent to us in our lives without a manual and a troubleshooting section!!!!

[hellbennt]

everytime I copy & paste from MS Word into Mozilla Firefox, it gets all wonky- so please forgive me ok the purple links work to get to whre they should be, and who knows why the rest is underlined in blue, LOL!

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FAX FAX FAX
the dr

dont wait
for a call…

start off w/
a THANK YOU

keep it
short & sweet

stick to the
facts (no feelings and no rambling emotions)

state
current meds, doses, symptoms

make
request- flat out- short & sweet

THANK AGAIN

follow up by
calling office to say fax was sent

call again
later to discuss requests in fax, ie: have you
called in the increased prescription yet? THANK YOU

sample fax: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10633&PID=90325#90325

About faxing the doctor
(& more): https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2841&TPN=1

hellbennt2009-09-30 20:22:14

[Anonymous]

Laura – THANK YOU! I could have written the “Luke’smom” post!! That is absolutely why they aren’t taking me seriously – because my little guy is gaining weight plentifully (he’s 12 pounds at 5 weeks). Anyway, I’m definitely heeding this advice…I’m taking my son back to the group of doctors where my other two kiddos are seen. We were hoping to switch because our pedi retired 7/31 and we weren’t thrilled with the leftover options. Well, they have to be better than what we got yesterday…it was an arrogant jerk and stated we just have a “fussy baby with colic”.

Thanks for your time, ladies!!

[Anonymous]

Ours had 13-17 poops a day for his first month. They were green and watery. The ped doctor didn’t believe us. We went to a lactation specialist. Turns out my wife had overactive letdown and he was only getting foremilk. She started manually expressing 1/2 to 1 oz prior to feedings, and we gave him probiotics. The green poops cleared up within 48 hrs. Hope this helps!

[Author]

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